The earthquake that shook Japan with historic strength on March 11th, 2011 created a tsunami wave ten meters high. The water washed away boats, cars and houses in coastal areas north of Tokyo. It also led to tsunami warnings across the Pacific. Scientists recorded the magnitude(震级) of the earthquake at 8.9.The United States Geological Survey says it was the fifth largest earthquake since nineteen hundred. The largest, with a 9.5 magnitude, shook Chile in nineteen sixty. The quake struck near the east coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. It was centered under the sea about one hundred thirty kilometers east of Sendai.The tsunami washed away whole neighborhoods in Sendai. So far (April 4th), the tsunami has taken 12, 0009 people's life away. Now Japanese are all trying to rebuild their hometown, but there are too many difficulties. The first, Japan is the world's third largest importer(进口商)of oil. The shortage of oil makes it almost impossible to carry the food, medicine and water to the quake area by cars. The second, the Fukushima nuclear(核) power station was damaged by the March eleventh earthquake and tsunami. The extent of the problems is still not clear. Japan’s nuclear crisis(危机) may mean greater need of imported food. 小题1:The underlined word in Paragraph 1 means______ in Chinese.
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